UPRIGHT
REVERSED
~ KEN (torch) ~ k ~
Originally referred to light, which in ancient times was provided by torches
and fires. Human light as opposed to the natural light of the sun. The
physical light of flame was easily associated with the light of the mind,
just as darkness is linked with ignorance. The piercing keenness of the
intellect lights the dark places of the soul and dispels shadows. The
rune may have become linked with the passage of the dead. The rider
on the long road to the underworld carried Ken, the illuminating light
of his reason, as a guide and comfort.
The highest virtues have always been associated with radiance. There
are references in the gospels to the shining lights of Christ. Revelations
from God to the prophets took the form of light-as when Moses saw
the burning bush. White is a sacred color in diverse cultures. The white
buffalo of the American Indians. The white knight of European folklore.
The white dove of peace.
In Cynewulfin signatures, passages where the Anglo-Saxon poet
placed his name in the form of rune riddles, Ken is used as a cipher
for intelligence. Speaking of the final judgment, Cynwulf says:"Then
cin will tremble, will hear the King, the Ruler of heaven, speak,
pronounce stern words to those who obeyed him negligently before
in the world." This would seem to be light used as the gift of the
personal self-the soul-from God.
The early Germans burned their dead. Attempts have been made to
link the Ken rune with some rite of a sun cult. Symbols of the sun
figure prominently in the Stone Age rock carvings and appear
beside runes on some weapon relics-the spearhead found near
Brestlitovsk in the USSR, for example. Such a connection would
not be incompatible with the interpretation of Ken as progressively
torch, light and intelligence.
The Scottish word ken which now means to know, but which earlier
meant to see, to recognize, and was also used to indicate the range
of vision or sight, may be a descendant of the Ken rune. The shape
of the rune is of something that flies and pierces.
MEANINGS:
UPRIGHT:
Revelation of things hidden, awakening, insight, finding the way,
piercing the veil, guiding star, lantern in a storm, candle in the window,
solution to a problem, the answer, end of a journey, fulfillment of
purpose.
REVERSED:
Nakedness, harsh light of day, exposure, realization of futility, loss
of dreams, awakening to reality, perception of personal limitations,
seeing oneself and others in a true light, receding hopes, possible
suicide attempt.
KEY:BEACON
